Paris/Geneva (ICRC) – "No war, no emergency, no national security imperative can justify enforced disappearance", said Jakob Kellenberger,
president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at the ceremony to open for signature the International Convention for the protection of all persons from enforced
disappearance.
"The ICRC is grateful for France's support for this Convention and hopes that all States will follow its lead", Mr Kellenberger added, declaring that the treaty marked a
victory for the families of the disappeared.
The anguish of not knowing what has happened to a loved one and the sadness of indefinite separation amounted to intolerable suffering, he
said.
The ICRC does its utmost to prevent enforced disappearances in the various countries where it works.
The convention will enter into force 30 days after the 20th State has
signed
it.
The ICRC hopes that this will be done without delay.
For further information, please contact:
Frédéric Joli, ICRC Paris, tel.
